History of the Arctic Health Website

The need for a resource like the Arctic Health website was identified some two decades ago. In 1983 the American Public Health Association (APHA), the Polar Research Board of the National Academy of Science, and a number of other groups participated in a series of discussions on arctic health. The outcome was a booklet published by APHA in 1984, entitled National Arctic Health Science Policy. It recommended developing

• an arctic health information repository and clearinghouse to provide ready access by health care and research professionals to previously published and unpublished articles and reports pertinent to the Arctic and to provide a system for rapid dissemination of new results, and
• a computerized directory of scientists with arctic health expertise
  

The genesis of the website did not occur until May 2000, when an international conference on Arctic Development, Pollution, and Biomarkers of Human Health was held in Anchorage, Alaska. The conference was organized by the United States' National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, National Institutes of Health (NIEHS, NIH) in conjunction with the Arctic Council's Arctic Monitoring and Assessment Program (AMAP). Participants brought diverse expertise and interests to the discussions, ranging from atmospheric chemistry and glaciology to heavy metal toxicity to high throughput proteomics and RNA expression techniques. Attendees built consensus and developed recommendations for AMAP regarding future activities on human biomarkers in the Arctic. Of the 10 recommendations submitted to AMAP, four were to:

• encourage sensitivity for the culture, lifestyle, interests, and needs of arctic inhabitants;
• establish, coordinate, and maintain databases on the health of the arctic environment and its inhabitants;
• promote community outreach and education; and
• promote multidisciplinary partnerships.

Following the conference, the NIH Office of Intramural Research began an initiative called the Arctic Health Disparities Research Dissemination Network (AHDRDN). Envisioned as a central point for accessing human health information, including research, monitoring, education and training, communications, and outreach activities, the network would be aimed at Alaska Natives and other indigenous peoples of the Arctic. The National Library of Medicine (NLM) committed to developing a website to help organize and disseminate health information relevant to Arctic inhabitants, and in 2001 Arctic Health was unveiled.

Today a major focus of the website is on providing health information about and to Alaska Native peoples. One of its aims is to address the health disparities Alaska Native peoples experience by providing access to relevant information, including information on traditional healing. An advisory group of Alaska Natives was created to ensure that the Traditional Healing section of the website accurately reflects the needs and desires of Alaska Natives and traditional healers.

NLM transferred responsibility for the continued development of the Arctic Health website and its long-term management to the UAA Consortium Library's Health Sciences Information Service July, 2003.

Additional background information can be found at:

• Introduction
• Arctic Health Links
• Link Selection Guidelines
• Definitions